Pioneer-Dilli Billi-March.6th.2011-"Real woman empowerment"

"Real woman empowerment"
It’s the people at the top who have to set the example of empowering women by giving their daughters a chanceLast week while driving home, I was shocked to see a girl in broad daylight, in full public view, opposite a thana, being thrashed by a young boy holding her by the hair. My driver hesitantly slowed the car and I rolled down my car window and shouted at the boy to stop it. He pulled her hair harder and shouted, “Mind your own business.” I got off the car walked towards them, and when the girl noticed this even she shouted, “Why are you interfering? Get in your car and go.” My driver and I were taken aback and in shock and drove home.Since that day I have been thinking about that incident. One, the guts of the boy to bash her on a crowded pavement. Two, nobody stopped them. Three, why did the girl tell me to go? After thinking about it I realised that this must have been one of those BPL girls who are used to being abused by their relatives. It’s a shame, but how a girl child is brought still in our society. Look around and you’ll will see it everywhere. We are trying to change, but our mindset is so set that it will take many more decades.Let’s start from the top. In big corporate or political families, it is the boy who takes over the family mantle. Only if there is no son that the the fairer sex is groomed to take over, like Indira Gandhi and Birla daughter Shobhna Bhartia. And they are such success stories. The daughter may be much smarter than the son, but the son will get the first preference and the parents will try their level best to settle him down with full patience. It is the daughter-in-law who will get the family heirlooms, not the daughter who will come to their rescue whenever needed. She will look after them till their last day. The daughter-in-law, especially in the middle class, will be only available to needs of the in-laws at her convenience. The married son will overnight find many flaws with his side of the family. Wonder why all senior politicians have their sons fighting elections and not their daughters? Why is it that corporate heads only groom their son to take over?Many politicians’ daughters are smart, educated and more suited to join politics than their brothers. It’s not that they don’t want to, but they’ve been trained to be in the background and only help during polls and in the house. They are to be content running NGOs and doing social work in the background. It is a sad situation even in the upper-class and powerful circles. Somehow it is ingrained in the girl that her brother deserves better.In this hypocritical society it is a shame to still see men abuse women physically and emotionally, and it is worse that women take it lying down. When will parents stop handing over the family mantle to the son and instead give it to the deserving daughter? Only then will the mindset of society change. It is the top class that has to set the example, be it is politicians or corporate heads. They are the ones who will make all the difference . And that will result in real women empowerment.